


Fighting Willow

by Hunger_Games_Life



Series: Willow [1]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 05:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5444762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hunger_Games_Life/pseuds/Hunger_Games_Life
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peeta and Katniss Mellark live a happy life with their two children. Willow and Rye. Willow, being a feisty sixteen year old girl and Rye being a shy, thirteen year old boy. When Celestia Snow is back and in action, Willow and Rye will be sent into the 1st New Hunger Games. Where the tributes will be manually reaped, not by chance... May the odds be ever in your favor...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Willow

¨Willow!¨ someone yells. I throw the knife, barely missing my brother's head. ¨Rye! What did I tell you about surprising me when I'm hunting?¨ I ask, annoyed. ¨To never do it. But that's not gonna stop me.¨ he retorts. ¨Mom wants you home.¨ ¨Like I'm going home now. Go tell her I'm coming back when I catch a few more kills. Then I'll come back to that cesspool of sadness.¨ I answer. ¨But he's okay now. Mom got the cuffs on him and got him in the closet. He passed out a minute before I came to get you.¨ Rye wrestles the knife out of the tree it hit. ¨You sure? Is Mom okay?¨ I inquire, worried. ¨Yeah. She managed to get out of the way.¨ he replies. ¨Okay. I'll go then. Just give me a minute.¨ I state. I walk over to the rock Mom showed me when I was little. Apparently her and Uncle Gale used to come here all the time. I've never been sure what tore them apart. Someday I will ask. When I get the courage. I look at the horizon. Mom says we are free. But I don't feel free. There are no gates. There are no walls. But I am trapped. I begin to jog home. To our home in what Mom and Dad call ¨The Victors Village¨. Whatever that means. What did they have victory over? I run through the square, ignoring my best friends, Sycamore and Chrysa. They wave, but I must get home. Mom probably has a black eye or something. Just like last time Rye said nothing happened. Every time he says that I know something happened. Last time it was a broken arm. I arrive at the front door and brace myself to handle what is inside. But when I walk it, Mom is surprisingly unharmed. I hug her. ¨Finally! You are home! The president is about to make a live announcement.¨ she exclaims. I hear dad snoring in the closet. We've had to replace that closet door twice. 

The television comes on and we don't see President Paylor. We see a woman with bleach blonde hair and green snake eyes, she smiles then the screen goes black. Mom gasps. I hear Dad waking up and open the closet door. I take the keys and unlock the cuffs. He gets up and rubs his wrists. He saw Mom faints and we run over to her. He manages to wake her up and she points to the screen. ¨Snow's granddaughter...¨ he murmurs. ¨H-how could she be here... She disappeared years ago...¨ he whispers to nobody but himself. ¨Celestia...¨ Mom murmurs. ¨Who is she?¨ Rye asks. ¨Um... We can't really tell you without telling you everything...¨ Dad answers. Mom touches his arm. ¨Peeta...¨ she sighs. ¨Katniss, are you sure?¨ Dad asks. She nods. They take turns explaining things. What the Hunger Games are really about. Something called a Quarter Quell. A rebellion. Why Dad has outbursts. The death of the woman on the screen's grandfather. An evil man named Coriolanus Snow. I wince at their description of him. Poisoning people to stay in power. Murdering innocent children and adults. The destruction of the beautiful district we live in now. The cobblestone streets and lovely houses used to be ash. Before Paylor had it all rebuilt. 

Rye and I sit, stunned, until the screen comes on again. ¨Hello people of Panem! I am Celestia Snow. Your new Supreme Dictator! I now rule you. Your Ex-President Paylor is dead. I have a big, big announcement. We have reinstated the Hunger Games! It will be called The New Hunger Games. The first games will be held in an unused arena that we had built for the seventy-sixth Hunger Games. Except now we will have a new rule. Every year will be a Quarter Quell! This year, children will be manually reaped! The papers of the children will still be put in Reaping balls, so we can honor tradition! May the odds be ever in your favor!¨ and with that, the screen went black. We sat there, stunned. ¨We're going. Aren't we?¨ Rye yelped. ¨Yes. Yes you are. You better start training.¨ Mom replies, in a daze. We are going to the games. And only one of us will get out.

If either of us get out...


	2. Tree Haven

I won't wait. I run outside, my brown hair in an intricate braid flapping behind me. I run into the forest, smelling the pine, and letting the outdoors rejuvenate me. I spin around, taking it all in, letting my worries melt away. But they won't leave my mind, they stick there like a thorn that I cannot remove without falling apart. The Hunger Games. I'm going to the Hunger Games. The whole thing will be rigged. Mom and Dad won't be executed. They'll just kill Rye and I and make Mom and Dad deal with it. I finally know why mom has nightmares and my dad gets violent. I push it as far back in my brain as I can. I find my tree and climb up. I climb onto the platform that Rye and I built with the help of our ¨cousins¨. Uncle Gale's son and daughter. Mira and Jay. Gale isn't really our uncle, just my Mom's friend. I sit down, my back against the wall. I don't let a single tear escape from my eyes. I won't give Celestia Snow that satisfaction. She is probably watching me right now. I hear rustling below me and just bury my face in my knees. Someone climbs up the tree and sits next to me. They wrap their arm around me. Mom. ¨It'll be okay. You or Rye might be able to win... If only you could both win. We can't just form another rebellion in a day or we could stop all this.¨ she says. ¨Mom... Mira and Jay are going in too aren't they...¨ I ask. ¨Probably... And Finnick and Annie's son and half-sister. Cressida's son and daughter. Maybe even Johanna's son and daughter. Nobody will think it's a coincidence. But nobody will question it.¨ she answers. ¨Mom... I'm scared...¨ I admit. ¨It's normal to be scared... I was scared... I'm still scared. Now I'm even more scared.¨ she responds. ¨Okay... How is Dad doing?¨ I inquire. ¨He locked himself in our room, He'll be fine though. He's just worried.¨ she confirms. ¨Okay.¨ I say. I bury my face into my knees more. I don't want to be in an arena of death with my closest friends. Rye could die... I could die... I have to prepare.

¨Mom. I'm ready to train.¨ I state. ¨You sure?¨ she asks. ¨I am. I want Rye to train too.¨ I reply. ¨Okay. If you say so...¨ Mom says. The reaping will be in five months. We train hard, harder, and hardest. But every day after training I come back to my haven in the trees. Remembering the good days. The time when our family would go down to the lake and swim, picnic and play. Telling good stories and laughing until the sun goes down. Then we would go home and sit in front of the fire. Sometimes Rye would fall asleep and his head would lay on my lap. He is one of my best friends. I cannot think of a world without my brother. My little brother... 

For the next five months we train and work as hard as we can. We are ready for the Games. Nobody will beat us. I just hope Rye ill be okay... I'll find a way for both of us to win. My knife-throwing gets better. And Rye can throw spears pretty well. We both hit the targets every time. I hope we aren't the final two...

This is going to be hard...


	3. Tears Of My Heart

I can hear their sobs, drifting from behind their bedroom door. The Reaping is tomorrow. This is what they have always feared. Mom is always scared that every good thing in her life will be taken away. Her game isn't going to help her this time... Her and Dad know only one of us is coming home. If either of us come home at all... Mom and Dad will be crushed. I'll find a way...

I walk into the bathroom and undo my braid. I undress and sink into the warm bathtub. I scrub the dirt out of my skin and hair. I get out of the bathtub and put on a deep blue nightgown. I braid my hair normally. I brush my teeth and walk out into the hall. I walk into the room I have had since I was just a baby. Since I was the dancing girl in the meadow. With my father's blue eyes and my mother's hair. My hair is a light brown, a mixture of my father's blonde and my mother's brown. Mom says in my attitude I have a hint of my Aunt Prim. She died before I was born... Mom never told me how, but I have a slight idea... Without knowing it, I begin to sing a song my Mom taught me many years ago. 

Deep in the meadow, under the willow A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes  
And when again they open, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, here it's warm  
Here the daisies guard you from every harm  
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away  
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray  
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay  
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

Here it's safe and here it's warm  
And here the daisies guard you from every harm  
And here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true  
Here is the place where I love you.

I finish the song and feel much better. I crawl under the warm, soft blankets. I get no sleep. I get up and quietly slip on my pants, shirt, jacket and boots. I put on my Mom's old hunting cap and my grandfather's hunting jacket. They make me feel like my family is embracing me. I slip outside and take my knives. Maybe I'll even catch some fresh meat! I climb up into my tree and sit down. I let myself cry, and cry. And cry. And cry a little more. I don't care if they are watching me. I have the right to cry. I decide to sing another song.

Are you, Are you Coming to the tree, Where they strung up a man they say murdered three Strange things did happen here No stranger would it be If we met, at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, Are you  
Coming to the tree  
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee  
Strange things did happen here  
No stranger would it be  
If we met, at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, Are you Coming to the tree  
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free  
Strange things did happen here  
No stranger would it be  
If we met, at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, Are you  
Coming to the tree  
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.  
Strange things did happen here,  
No stranger would it be,  
If we met, at midnight in the hanging tree

My Mom taught me the meaning of that song. How she felt. How it applies to her and Dad. I let myself cry until I run out of tears. The sun begins to rise and I realize that now I must return home and prepare for the Reaping. I climb down from the 

tree to see Rye waiting for me. His blonde hair is ruffled, and his grey eyes stare into mine. ¨When did you leave?¨ he asks. ¨Last night...¨ I mutter. 'Well, let's get back. We need to get ready...¨ he says. He knows we will be chosen. ¨Okay.¨ I respond. We walk home. We trudge along, not talking to each other. One of us, if not both of us, will die.

We step into the house and see our elderly Aunt Effie, and Uncle Haymitch, sitting on the sofa. They look at us and Aunt Effie bursts into tears. Uncle Haymitch has a clear look of pain on his face. I hug them both. Uncle Haymitch is seventy-five and Aunt Effie is seventy. Mom sends us off the get dressed and wash up. I put on a red dress and white boots that lace up to right below my knees. I separate my hair into ten braids. I wrap them around my head in an intricate fashion. It is a cold spring. No snow, but chilling air. I put on a white sweater with a large, ruffled, collar. Soon the Reapings will begin all along the country.

May the odds be ever in our favor...


End file.
